Every investment you make should be approached with caution, including real estate.
Best practices to become highly competent and successful property investors
Every investment you make should be approached with caution, including real estate. You will indeed have the best chances of success if you prepare in the best possible way. When done correctly, property investing can be a great way to build your financial future and set yourself up for the life you desired. But it can be like a dangerous playground if you haven't done proper research.
We understand that property investing doesn't come with an instruction manual, and the path to riches isn't straightforward. The good news is that you can follow best practices by successful investors to set yourself up for your goals.
We have researched the habits to become highly successful property investors, and we thought of sharing them with you here. So, let's get started.
We would love to hear your opinion too. Feel free to contribute more to the list.
We have researched the habits to become highly successful property investors, and we thought of sharing them with you here. So, let's get started.
We would love to hear your opinion too. Feel free to contribute more to the list.
1. Treat property investment as a business
1. Treat property investment as a business
Successful property investors are financially accountable and regularly review their properties' performance.
Like any business, property investing requires careful planning, execution, management and the best team. A mindset that ignores this fact is doomed to fail. It would help run your property investment as a business regardless of how big or small you want it to be.
Investing in property is a challenging business requiring constant effort, planning, and expertise. Additionally, it requires doing business with integrity, building relationships and respecting others.
Like any business, property investing requires careful planning, execution, management and the best team. A mindset that ignores this fact is doomed to fail. It would help run your property investment as a business regardless of how big or small you want it to be.
Investing in property is a challenging business requiring constant effort, planning, and expertise. Additionally, it requires doing business with integrity, building relationships and respecting others.
2. Build a strong team of mentors and consultants
2. Build a strong team of mentors and consultants
To be a successful investor, you should leverage the expertise of others. It would be best if you chose the right team and mentors to build the right portfolio. It will help if you appreciate that spending on the right team is an investment and not an expense. You must leverage experts in each area to minimise mistakes and ensure success.
3. Continuously study the markets and are relentless realists
3. Continuously study the markets and are relentless realists
Knowing your markets well is one of the essential habits of a successful real estate investor. By keeping yourself updated, you can better understand the current state of the market and predict what future changes may affect your investment. It would be best to do an in-depth study to choose the right location while buying the property, enabling you to predict when trends may change, creating potential risk-averse opportunities.
Trusting that property investing is a long-term investment, and your decisions are backed by due diligence, you should never worry when the property's pessimist. It would help if you did not fear when the media is printing that the market will crash.
Trusting that property investing is a long-term investment, and your decisions are backed by due diligence, you should never worry when the property's pessimist. It would help if you did not fear when the media is printing that the market will crash.
4. Understand the importance of capital growth
4. Understand the importance of capital growth
If you want to be a thriving investor, understanding the importance of the capital growth of your assets is essential while keeping cash flow in the game. Capital growth will get you out of the rat race, while cash flow will help you sustain your portfolio. Yes, it is all about an appropriate balance between Cash Flow and Capital Growth.
5. Money is in the property purchase
5. Money is in the property purchase
When it comes to making money in property investing, buying well is crucial. Money in the property market is made on the purchase, not on the sale. It all comes down to buying well, i.e. choosing a property that will increase value over time.
6. Diversify your property portfolio
6. Diversify your property portfolio
Savvy Investors do much research to choose the right strategy and guidance from experienced investors and coaches to build their portfolio with diversification. This helps them stand firm in a declining market. You should systematically study and invest in different markets in different locations.
Our guide to balancing a property portfolio covers the growth, protection, and security framework - the structural approach to meaningful diversification across a portfolio.
Our guide to balancing a property portfolio covers the growth, protection, and security framework - the structural approach to meaningful diversification across a portfolio.
7. Embrace the risks
7. Embrace the risks
There's more to property investing than simply buying a property for a great price and then renovating it for a profit or renting it out. Managing your risks upfront will help you plan for when something goes wrong. Knowing what might happen will help you plan when it does.
Risk and returns go hand in hand, and investing in any asset class is all about balancing the two. You should understand that property investing is very rewarding and risky, given the high leverage involved in this asset class. Once you effectively manage the downside risks, you should expect reasonable returns from your investments.
Being a good investor, you should know that investing involves risk. Taking calculated risks is a quality that emphasises experience, knowledge, and confidence.
Risk and returns go hand in hand, and investing in any asset class is all about balancing the two. You should understand that property investing is very rewarding and risky, given the high leverage involved in this asset class. Once you effectively manage the downside risks, you should expect reasonable returns from your investments.
Being a good investor, you should know that investing involves risk. Taking calculated risks is a quality that emphasises experience, knowledge, and confidence.
8. Take care by buying the right insurance
8. Take care by buying the right insurance
Successful investors know that they need to be insured in unprecedented situations. When you start thinking like a businessman, you should ensure that taking care of your risk is essential by insuring your business. It's vital to secure business insurance since a potentially disastrous occurrence could easily wipe out your business assets.
9. Patience is the key
9. Patience is the key
To become a savvy investor, you should know that investing in properties is a patience game. It is a long-term investment, after all.
Wisdom and patience are the keys to tempering pressure. Your ability to know when to run and stop to see what happens allows you to make the best strategic decisions. By recognising the areas where you'll need to practice patience, you can save yourself from many costly mistakes. With patience, you can become a good investor creating wealth over time.
Our portfolio strategy and sequencing guide covers the sequencing best practice in full: why buy order matters as much as asset selection.
Wisdom and patience are the keys to tempering pressure. Your ability to know when to run and stop to see what happens allows you to make the best strategic decisions. By recognising the areas where you'll need to practice patience, you can save yourself from many costly mistakes. With patience, you can become a good investor creating wealth over time.
Our portfolio strategy and sequencing guide covers the sequencing best practice in full: why buy order matters as much as asset selection.
10. Celebrate your success
10. Celebrate your success
Creating a successful property portfolio is a journey that you need to understand should be supported by your loved ones. Know that journey is as important as the destination. Successful investors learn that every win isn't just a win; it's an opportunity for celebration.
Most qualified real estate investors learn from what other successful investors do and apply it more effectively. Study what they do, how they act, and how they think to become better. By following these best practices, you will improve your odds of success. Keep in mind that always approach things calmly and do your research.
Australian housing moves in cycles, and the phase a market is in changes which decisions are reasonable rather than whether the fundamentals matter. Locating the right property in a good neighbourhood with the right price point will give you a strong foundation for growth and success. Yes, the market is surging, but not all the deals are the same. Therefore, one should be conducting due diligence. There are no shortcuts, except that you can choose to outsource the research and hire the experts.
Should you be unsure of what investment strategy is good the best option for you, the Get RARE Properties team is here to help. We are an independent buyers' agent here to guide you through the complexities of purchasing properties. With us in your team, you can ensure that you will get the right personalised strategy, the right property at the right place. As experienced property investors and negotiators, we look at the property as a business transaction and do not let emotions creep in. We will help you choose the best deal at the right negotiated price and save you from undue stress making the process very pleasing and rewarding. As a buyer's agent and experienced property investor, we understand the difficulties of looking for feasible properties. We will work closely with you to streamline this complicated process, making it as rewarding and stress-free as possible for you. If you want to see these best practices applied across real client portfolios, our results section has case studies covering investors at different stages of portfolio maturity.
The perfect property could be waiting just for you, but you would never know about it unless it was presented to you.
Most qualified real estate investors learn from what other successful investors do and apply it more effectively. Study what they do, how they act, and how they think to become better. By following these best practices, you will improve your odds of success. Keep in mind that always approach things calmly and do your research.
Australian housing moves in cycles, and the phase a market is in changes which decisions are reasonable rather than whether the fundamentals matter. Locating the right property in a good neighbourhood with the right price point will give you a strong foundation for growth and success. Yes, the market is surging, but not all the deals are the same. Therefore, one should be conducting due diligence. There are no shortcuts, except that you can choose to outsource the research and hire the experts.
Should you be unsure of what investment strategy is good the best option for you, the Get RARE Properties team is here to help. We are an independent buyers' agent here to guide you through the complexities of purchasing properties. With us in your team, you can ensure that you will get the right personalised strategy, the right property at the right place. As experienced property investors and negotiators, we look at the property as a business transaction and do not let emotions creep in. We will help you choose the best deal at the right negotiated price and save you from undue stress making the process very pleasing and rewarding. As a buyer's agent and experienced property investor, we understand the difficulties of looking for feasible properties. We will work closely with you to streamline this complicated process, making it as rewarding and stress-free as possible for you. If you want to see these best practices applied across real client portfolios, our results section has case studies covering investors at different stages of portfolio maturity.
The perfect property could be waiting just for you, but you would never know about it unless it was presented to you.
Where this sits
Where this sits
The habits above are the easy part to list and the hard part to keep. Where they fit inside a plan is covered in our guide on how to build a property portfolio, and turning them into a sequence for one investor's circumstances is the work of a property investment strategist.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
What do successful property investors do differently?
They treat it as a business rather than a hobby: a plan, a team, records, and decisions made on evidence. They keep studying the market without chasing it, they understand that growth is what builds the portfolio, and they accept that patience is most of the method.
Why treat property investment as a business?
Because a business has a goal, a budget, a set of numbers you check and people you are accountable to. Hobbies do not. The difference shows up most when a decision is uncomfortable, because a business has a process for that and a hobby has a feeling.
Who should be on a property investor's team?
A broker, an accountant, a solicitor, a property manager and someone responsible for the buying decision. The one rule worth keeping is that nobody advising you on what to buy should be paid by the person selling it.
Is diversifying a property portfolio worth it?
Spreading across markets reduces how exposed you are to one local economy, one employer or one set of state rules. It also means more to manage and more to learn. Diversification for its own sake is not the goal; not having everything depend on one suburb is.
How much patience does property investing require?
More than most people plan for. The returns that make a portfolio worth building show up over a decade, not a cycle, and most of the damage is done by decisions taken to make something happen sooner. Doing nothing is often the active decision.
General information only. We're licensed buyer's agents, not financial or tax advisers, so please check anything that affects your money with your own adviser.
About the author
Rasti Vaibhav is the founder of Get RARE Properties, an independent buyer's agency for property investors. He is a CFA Charterholder and spent more than nine years managing institutional portfolios at Westpac and AMP Capital before founding the firm in 2020. He sits on the REINSW Buyers' Agent Chapter Committee and is the author of The Property Wealth Blueprint.
Next steps: Should you want to learn how the author built his $5m balanced portfolio in 7 years and aspire to own something similar, feel free to get in touch via email at [email protected] or book an appointment here.
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